Importance Of Constructivist Learning

"Constructivism is basically a theory of learning that attempts to show that knowledge can and can only be generated from experience" Steffe and Thompson (2000:6). It suggests that building one’s own meaning and understanding requires an active involvement in the meaning-making process. Students develop knowledge through an active construction process, not through the passive reception of information (Brophy, 1992). In other words, the learning process is not a method of spoon-feeding in which the learner passively absorbs every information presented to him, rather he must strive to construct his individual interpretation of his experiences. The learner is an active partner in the process of learning, teaching, and assessment; he selects, perceives, interprets, and integrates new information to form a coherent and meaningful whole with his prior knowledge and former experiences (Dochy, Segers & Buehl, 1999). Simply, he must be responsible of his learning process in which participating in collaborative experiences, searching for new information and relating it to previous knowledge are the mainstays to individually build new knowledge. The second half of the twentieth century marked the advent of constructivist learning as an important and influential learning theory. In fact,

For that reason, various types of assessment should to be taken into consideration to collect essential information regarding students’ learning progress and achievement. According to George and Cowan (1999), assessment has a strong impact on students’ learning. Hence, the teachers’ role is manifested in constructing judgments based on sufficient, clear, and accurate data to enhance students’ learning abilities and